Summary
After submitting responses to impact reports Wednesday on the contested expansion of south Beirut's Costa Brava landfill, civil society group United Lebanon was cautiously optimistic that the project could be blocked. Responses were sent to Judge Rola Chamoun after she had ordered a pause on the project for further study.
Analysts Hisham Mousharafieh and Hisham Rishani, who have worked on reports for the Council for Development and Reconstruction, announced in October that the landfill was nearly at capacity.
At the time, they estimated that Costa Brava would be able to accept waste for five more months.
On June 11, the Cabinet approved the expansion of the Costa Brava landfill.
Three weeks ago, Chamoun ordered a halt to the expansion and called upon the CDR and Environment and Health Ministries to submit impact reports.
The Daily Star obtained copies of the two submitted reports, which provided diverging narratives on the impact of the expansion of the landfill.
In the years following the landfill's opening, myriad reports have been published on its negative impact.
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